Black Lion Guest House still recommended?

[Joel Bernstein]

On Thu, Jan 17, 2008 at 10:38:32AM -0800, John Costello wrote:
> Someone mentioned off-list that he had heard of a 'bad experience' at 
> Black Lion, and suggested that I check with LondonPMers whether 
> Black Lion Guest House still is recommended.
> 
> Any horror stories to share?

I believe the original recommendation came from me. I stayed at the
Black Lion again about 6 months ago, however, and had a rotten
experience. I would no longer recommend staying there. Without informing
me, they moved me from a double room to a single one day while I was out
onsite with a client, because "we charge per person not per room and we
can rent this room to 2 people for more" which rather annoyed me, but
not half as much as it annoyed the people who were .. busy .. in the bed
when I opened the door with my key and walked in.

Rather more of an issue if you get the wrong room (ie at the front of
the building) is that Kilburn High Road is busy (night buses, etc) all
night and that people make noise outside for a lot of the night. 

I think it's safe to say that people should avoid staying at the Black
Lion, and I recommend that London.pm remove their endorsement from the
website. Or at least offer a caveat that the Black Lion is cheap for a
reason.

/joel